Organizing Man

This Washington Post piece is chock full of glowing quotes about "revolutionizing" the presidency and channeling the tech-savviness of the campaign into governing.  But what's really radical about this approach (and that nobody seems to mention) is that, before Obama takes the oath of office, he's already showing how he's going to govern: like a community organizer.  Listening to people; soliciting their opinions; marshaling their passions and energies into the political process: Obama didn't need to be the head of Harvard Law Review to practice those things, as articles often emphasize (though I'm sure it didn't hurt).  Rather, those tools--seemingly innocuous, but also profoundly important to a democratic society.  And that's revolutionary.

Shoe Leather

(Adapted from an email I sent out to some friends earlier today.  It's a little long, but if it can get anyone reading out there to give just an hour a week or an extra $5 to the campaign, it's worth it.)

I have been trying to carve out time to give what I can to the Obama campaign.  The past two Saturdays, I have gone across the Potomac to Northern Virginia to canvass, with the occasional phone bank during the week.  With any luck, I'll be able to make it out most Saturdays before the election, and opt out of class on Election Day to help out however is necessary.  

It's not glamorous. Two Saturdays ago, it was pushing 90 degrees, and from the looks of it, you would've thought that I had just finished a 10K, not a walk list. There's no promise that, if I knock on 500 doors before the election, that I'll be the deputy communications director in the Obama White House (and that would be an ill-conceived promise for many reasons). But that's not the goal--the goal is that there will be an Obama White House.  And it is very rewarding to talk to other people about the election, to help register new voters, and to get people who have never volunteered before to give of their time. While I'm sure that the campaign organizers that I know have had their fill, for me, it's also a very welcome and enjoyable break from staring at a textbook or computer screen.  

It's always a tricky line for me on when, and how, to approach someone to talk about the campaign.  When I'm knocking on strangers' doors, as soon as they say, "Nope," I say "thank you" and leave.  Obviously, that gets more complex when it's someone I know, and with whom I feel that I have a strong enough relationship to have an extended conversation about politics/the election.  From what I have been told and from what I have seen myself, the most effective way to communicate who/what I support in conversation isn't to tell him or her that he/she must vote Democratic (even though he or she must, ultimately), or shouldn't vote for McCain (even though he or she shouldn't), etc.  Rather, I think what's best is explaining why I, personally, support Obama, or support/oppose a specific policy.  If he/she asks me follow-up questions based on that, I answer as best I can.  If asked, my answers blend the facts (say, Barack Obama supports expanding health care) with my own values (I want more people to have health insurance, health care is important to me).  

I imagine most people approach their own decisions in a similar manner.  The next step, as it relates to this or any other campaign, is to share those reasons with friends, acquaintances, and neighbors alike in the upcoming weeks before Nov. 4.  Especially with the internet, this can be done from anywhere, with minimal effort.  Talk to your friends, and bring them along.  Jill and I were talking as we were out in Alexandria last Saturday, and it really is a great way to build a team, and more broadly, to build a community: the common experience, the physical activity, the socially-oriented goals.  Community organizing and activism may be the new punching bag of the Republican Party, but, to paraphrase Margaret Mead, a group of committed individuals, working on a common goal, is the only thing that has brought about change.

Freedom's Plow

"Freedom's Plow"

-Langston Hughes

Great poem.  I stumbled across it about a week ago in my (highly) edited Hughes collection, and if it didn't violate fair use standards, I'd post it all here--it's really speaking to me.  Here's a particularly apt quote for contemporary times:  

Thus the dream became not one man's dream alone,

But a community dream.

Not my dream alone, but our dream.

Not my world alone,

But your world and my world,

Belong to all the hands who build.

47 days to go.  

Community Organizing in the Washington Post

"Can I get an amen?"

Moving profile written by Courtland Milloy of a longtime community organizer from Holy Comforter St. Cyprian on East Capitol, Hal Gordon.  Let the Republicans tell his community and his group to its face that its organizers don't have "real" responsibilities.

Note the mention of Fr. Ray Kemp, professor/mensch/guru extraordinaire of Georgetown University and Washington, DC.  (Hence the name of the link, for the 8 pm-ers out there.)